Conveyer.



C. D. SBEBERGER.

CONVEYER.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO.12,1006. RBNEWED JAN. 13, 1910. 1,034,841

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

C. D. SEBBERGER.

CONVEYER.

APPLIOATION FILED 1320.12, 190e. Rmmwnn JAN. 1a, 1910.

1 ,034,841 Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

` feb TORNEYS C. D. SEEBERGER.

GONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 12, 1906. RBNBWED JAN.13. 1910- 1,084,841. Patented Aug. 6, 1912;

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WMM

C. D. SEEBERGER.

CONVEYER.

APPLIQATION FILED 11120.12, 190s. RENEWED M1113, 1910. 1,034,841.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

W Rf mi ma W a a AUoR/vfys f. @TAS ATENT OFFlCE.

CHARLESD. SEEBERGER, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO OTIS ELEVATOR COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

CONVEYER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES D.` SEE- BERGER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, inthe county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to conveyors, and especially to that class of conveyers wherein a traveling foot-way, preferably in the form of a series of connected steps extending between di'fferent levels, is adapted to carry or transport freight or passengers.

The object of the present invention is to provide certain novel and useful features in this class or type of machines, and the invention consists in the constructions, arrangements and organizations of parts hereinafter set forth and then specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate embodiments of the several features of my present invention-Figure 1 is a detail view showinga general arrangement of drive, linkage and upthrust; ltig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow, the drive being omitted; Fig. 3 is a detail view in side elevation of the drive and linkage on an enlarged scale, showing also two-part links; Fig. 1 is an end View of the parts of Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a sectional view through an axle and its associated links; Fig. 6 is a view in side elevation showing a hand-rail and drive mechanism therefor; Fig. 7 is a detail central sectional view of the upper drive wheel of Fig-.6; Fig.8isadetail top view of the hand-rail driving sprocket chain; Fig. 9 is a side View of a grated or comb landing at the top of the incline and one of the steps constituting the carrier or foot-way; Fig. 10 is a top plan View of the parts of Fig. E); Fig. 11 is a sectional view of a form of hand-rail; and Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic view showing an assemblage of the several parts illustrated in detail in the other figures. I

The machine to which the various improvements herein disclosed may be applied, consists of a series of steps adapted to travel on suitable tracks between different levels to transport passengers or freight in either direction, according to the direction of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 12, 1906, Serial No. 847,415.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912. Renewed January 13, 1910. Serial No. 537,931.

outer ends with wheels 13 and 14 adapted to run upon suitable tracks extending in an inclined run between the levels and at each level in a horizontal run to form a landing, one of the arms being angular or offset to accommodate the wheels to the different vertical planes of the tracks. The steps are connected by means of suitable linkage, preferably in the form of racks, adapted to receive and cooperate with a drive-wheel or sprocket for moving the steps. The general arrangement and disposition of the parts heretofore referred to is now well understood in the art from machines as actually constructed by me and in public service, and need not, therefore, be specifically described.

Between the wheel-base and ends of the steps the axles 12 receive rack-links 15 and 16, which are pivotally held upon the axles by any suitable means and coperate with a suitable drive 17. The links 15 and 16 are in male and female form respectively, the sleeves 18 of the former receiving the axles and extending within collars 19 of the latter (Fig. 5), the several parts being provided preferably with interposed anti-friction bushings. The male links are provided with teeth extending their entire lengt-h so that the end teeth are below or in the line of the axles, and the female links have teeth arranged intermediate the collars, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3.

By providing the male links with teeth under the axles, and omitting the teeth of the female links below the axles or collars, I am enabled to provide a much stronger construction in that the male links have more metal in the line of the axles than the female links by reason of the fact that the latter are bored out to receive the sleeves of the former. As the bore in the male link is merely large enough to receive the axle, and the bore in the female link is larger in order to receive the sleeve of the male link, it is apparent that there is more metal on the in an integral piece. Of course in suoli construction it is necessary to bodily remove a link in the event any of its teeth break or become worn by use, and the removal and replacement of an entire link is an inconvenient operation and consumes much time. Furthermore, the integral construction referred to is necessarily very expensive for Ithe reason that as the teeth must be extremely hard and durable to resist the heavy wear, 1t is necessary to make the entire .link

v of expensive material such as steel, etc.` In

vet

the present form I utilize a built-up link in which the body is adapted to be connected with the associated parts and carries removable teeth. The teeth may of course be connected to the body in any suitable way, but I prefer to make all of the teeth for each link in a separate integral structure adapted to be fastened to the body, and for this purpose I form the teeth integral with a base or strip 20 adapted to be secured to the body by suitable means such as the lag screws 21. By this construction the body of the link may be made of comparatively cheap material, such as cast metal, while the teeth themselves may be made of hardened, durable material to resist the wear,.a'nd moreover when it is necessary for any reason to renew or replace any of the teeth this operation may be readily and easily accomplished by merelymanipulating the retaining screws and without disconnecting the line of connected sections or steps.

In linkage as heretofore constructed the sides of the teeth have been inclined, and the engagement of the sprockets therewith has of course produced a thrust tending to raise orv lift the links and their connected steps proportional to the linclination of the teeth. I obviate this `difficulty by providing the links with straight teeth, or teeth having straight sides, so that the face of the teeth is atright angles to the direction of travel of the linkage, whereby the upward thrust is eliminated as the force or stress of the drive is then in the line of the links, or parallel with the plane passing through the axis of the drive at' a right angle tothe line of the links. This form of tooth may of course be emplo ed where .the links are at the ends ofy the` ax es orjwherey they are at an intermediate point under'l or below" the steps. Figs. 3

and 4 `illustrate this feature upon an venlarged scale, showing the straight'sides or faces of the teeth of the racks or linkage, from which it will be apparent that the upward thrust is eliminated and the force' or stress of the drive is delivered to -the links in a line parallel with the axis of the drive which is at right angles to the normal line or plane of the links. v

The form of tooth just described may of course be employed with any suitable drivedelivering its force or thrust in the line of the links, and for this purpose I provide teeth upon the sprockets 1'( which are curved toward their e'nd's. 4'By reference to Fig. 3 it will be seen that the cont-act of the sprocket and links is'at all times-at a point in the line of the links.

The action of the driving sprocket on the end teeth of the links causes these links to tend to turn on their axis, and in order to overcome this action I provide a suitable upthrust, which may be of any desired form,. that shown consisting of a bracket 22 secured to theI `frame and having suitable antifriction rollers 23 journaled along its lower edge. The rollers as shown are situated in the vertical plane of the female links, which in the embodiment here shown are provided with continuous upper webs or faces 24 95 adapted to contact against the rollers. 'By this construction the upthrust device engages alternate links. As the upthrust is longer than any single link the tendency of one of the male links to turn on its axle 100 when the drive engages the end tooth beneath that axle is resisted by the female link at the opposite end contacting with the upthrust. It is of course obvious that the contact surface on the back of the links may be `on either the male or the female links.

The maximum tendency to turn on the axis is of course on the male links, on account of the end teeth being .under the axles, although the female links likewise have the same tendency, and it is obvious that the upthrust may be arranged to coperate witheither yor both sets of links.

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown a construction in which I utilize two drive wheels for the hand-rail in place of the singlelarge wheel now commonly used. In many installations it is not feasible to employ a large drive wheel at the end-of the run, and where a small drive Wheel is employed .it has been found unsatisfactory by reason of the fact that the small .wheel gave such a small arc of contact for the hand-rail that the latter was not properly driven. These hand-rails are heavy, being usually-madey of strips of canvas cemente or otherwise secured together, and depend for their motion upon their friction with the drive wheel; itis obvious that when la'small drive wheel 1s used thearea of contact between the rail 130 sol and wheel is so reduced that the rail, being a heavy structure, is not pro erly driven. To obviate this defect I provide' a pair of wheels 25 and 26, which are placed one above the other and are connected by a chain or other suitable band 27 with Which the inner face of the handJrail contacts'so that the frictional area. between the hand-rail and the drive is greatly increased. In the form shown the wheels are in the form of sprocket Wheels and the bland -is in t-he form of a sprocket chain, although of course the form ofthese parts may be varied. The sprocket ehainis .provided with bridge pieces 28 as shown in Fig. 8 extending transversely from one side of the chain to the other and adapted when the parts `are operated to contact with the inner face yof Vthe hand-rail 32 as clearly shown in Fig. 7. The Wheels are preferably built up as shown in F ig. 7 in which a central casting 29 is mounted on a drive shaft 30 and is provided with teeth in its periphery for the chain, and the shrouds 31 are bolted to the casting as shown in Fig. 7 The shrouds are of sufficient size to project into alinemefnt with the tops of the bridge pieces so as to engage the inner face of the hand-rail 32, which is of the usual form having inturned sides or edges as shown in Fig. 7. Its inner face frictionally engages with the shrouds of the drive wheels and with the bridge pieces of the chain so that the area of contact between the handrail and the drive lis increased to provide suiiicient frictional engagement to positively drive the rail Without slipping.

The hand-rail is composed of strips of canvas bent back and forth upon. each other and preferably connected by rubber, cement, or othersuitable material. In cross section the layers or'plies of canvas-are as represented in Fig. 11, Where it W1ll be seen that starting with the edge 33 on the inside the canvas is folded back and forth in successive superposed layers and that the last layer is then carried up around the edges of the intermediate layers as shown at 34 and extended across'the Width of the inner face Where it is again brought down as at 35 to inclose the opposite edges of the layers. The tops of the parts 34 and 35 are straight as at 36 to provide bearing surfaces to contact with the guide.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown a comb or grated landing and a corresponding formof step. The landing or floor 37 is provlded with a series of forwardly projecting rstrips 38 suitably spaced apart, beveled or inclined upon their lower faces at their free ends, as indicated at 39. The treads of the steps are grated, as clearly'shown in Fi 10,by means of alternately yraised and epressed portions 40 and 41, respectively. The depressed portions of the gratings of the treads of the steps do not cut through the risers but are inclined upwardly at the front edges of the steps as indicated at 42 and merge into the plane of the parts 40 at the front edge of the steps in proximity to the risers. By this construction the risers are unbroken and provide continuous service uniformly over their exposed areas.

The tracks upon which the supporting Wheels 13 and 14 of the steps run are in the usual form upon the incline. and landings where they extend side by side, it being understood that the front and rear wheels are in different vertical planes, and the horizontal portions 43 of the tracks at the upper landin are curved as at 44 to provide a drop or the step, so that just before the inclined port-ions 39 and 42 of the comb landing and grated steps, respectively, come into contact the step Will drop away below the level lof tbe comb. By this arrangement each succeeding step engages the comb at the instant the preceding step passes below it.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a device of the class described, linkage comprising male and female links having teeth with a flat face, the teeth on the former extending to the ends thereof, and the teeth on the latter .being intermediate .the ends, and means todrive the links.

2. In a device of the class described, a series of steps having axles, links having sleeves connecting alternate axles, teeth having a flat face on the links extending to the ends thereof, links having collars forl the sleeves of said first named links, teeth having a flat face on the last named links intermediate their ends, and means to engage the teeth to drive the links.

3. In a device of the class described, a series of movable steps, links connecting the steps and having teeth with straight sides, v

and a drive having curved teeth.

4. In a device of the class described, a series of 'r'novable steps, links connecting the ste s and having teeth each with a flat face, an a drive having curved teeth engaging the flat faces of the link-teeth.

5. In a device of the class described, a series 'of movable steps, links connecting the steps, alternate links having upper webs or faces, a drive for the links, and `an upthrust for the webs over the drive.

6. In a device of the class described, a series of movable steps, links connecting the steps, removable teeth on the links, and av drive enga 'ng the teeth.

7. In a evice `of the class described, a series of movable steps, links connecting the steps and consistin of body portions and sepailrable teeth, an a drive engaging the teet 8. In a device of the class described, a

series of movable steps, links consisting of body portions connecting the steps and de-v tachable strips carrying teeth, and a drive engaging the teeth.

9. In a device of the class described, a movable hand-rail, and an end drive .therefor consisting of a pair of Wheels and a connecting band engaging With the inner face of the rail.

10. In a device of the class described, aV

movable hand-rail, and an end drive therefor consisting of a pair of sprocket Wheels engaging with the inner face of the rail and a sprocket chain on the Wheels.

11. In a device of the class described, a hand-rail, and a drive therefor at the terminal consisting of a driven sprocket chain frictionally engaging the inner face of the weasel 14. In a device of the class described, a series of movable steps having grated treads, thel gratings terminating short of the risers, and a comb-landing cooperating with successive treads.

- 15. In a device of the class described, a series of movable steps each having a solid riser and a grated tread,` and a comb-landing entering the gratings of successivev treads as far as the riser.

16. In a device of the class described, a series of movable steps each having a solid riser and a grated tread, tracks on Which the steps run and provided with depressions, and a comb-landing arranged above the de pressions and adapted to receive the gratings of thesteps to the'risers'.

17. A step for moving stairways -having a riser and a grated tread, the gratings of the tread terminating in front of the riser.

18. A step for moving stairways having a continuous or unbroken riser and a grated tread.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses. v

CHARLES D. SEEBERGER. Witnesses:

EDMUND E. FIELD, Jr., W. H. BRADY. 

